I KNEW by the smoke that so gracefully curled Above the green elms, that a cottage was near, And I said, "If there's peace to be found in the world, A heart that is humble might hope for it here!" It was noon, and on flowers that languished around In silence reposed the voluptuous bee; Every leaf was at rest, and I heard not a sound But the woodpecker tapping the hollow beech-tree. And "Here in this lone little wood," I exclaimed, "With a maid who was lovely to soul and to eye, Who would blush when I praised her, and weep if I blamed, How blest could I live, and how calm could I die! "By the shade of yon sumach, whose red berry dips In the gush of the fountain, how sweet to recline, And to know that I sighed upon innocent lips, Which had never been sighed on by any but mine!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE RAVAGED VILLA by HERMAN MELVILLE THE QUESTION by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY OUR STATE by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER THE MAGPIES IN PICARDY by T. P. CAMERON WILSON THE OLD BRIDGE by AUGUSTE ANGELLIER INSTEAD OF TEARS by JOSEPH AUSLANDER ON SCARING SOME WATERFOWL IN LOCH-TURIT by ROBERT BURNS ENTERTAINMENT GIVEN BY LORD KNOWLES: SONG 1 by THOMAS CAMPION |